Archive for June, 2008

I was under the impression that ESPN had a crack team of stat people working behind the scenes of their various presentations.  Geeks whose job it was to make sure the on-air “talent” didn’t make fools of themselves by belching out incorrect numbers and factoids. Apparently ESPN has fired all these people.  Either that or their on-air “talent” is allowed to go on-air without doing any kind of meaningful prep.  How else do you explain the massive gaffe committed by “analyst” Marcellus Wiley during the following clip from tonight’s SportsCenter? Catch it? When Wiley refers to Daunte Culpepper having led [...]

Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline really likes the Vikings.  He placed four members of the Purple in his rankings of the Top 50 players in the NFL.  Actually, the four all placed in the top 20.  You can probably guess the names.  Here’s the complete top 20 with the Vikes in bold: Tom Brady Peyton Manning LaDainian Tomlinson (I’m assuming this is regular season only) Randy Moss Champ Bailey Mario Williams (yeah, picking him over Reggie Bush was a real mistake) Bob Sanders Carson Palmer DeMarcus Ware Kevin Williams Shawne Merriman (still has whiplash from AD running by him) Jared [...]

What would you say if I told you Daunte Culpepper was the undisputed master of the 2-Minute Drill? You would probably laugh at me.  You might even say, “How can he be the master of the 2-Minute Drill when he doesn’t even play anymore?” Laugh all you want; doubt all you want – Daunte Culpepper is, in fact, the master of the 2-Minute Drill.  No less an authoritative source than the Guinness Book of World Records confirms this. Of course, the Two-Minute Drill we’re talking about is the side-game inside the Madden video game. Still dubious?  Well, it’s true – [...]

Ray Edwards is supposed to have a bust-out season lining up on the left side of the same defensive line as Pro-Bowlers Pat Williams, Kevin Williams and Jared Allen.  Things got off to kind of an iffy start, however, when Ray tweaked his back and had to miss minicamp. Now Edwards, according to coach Brad Childress, is looking good.  “He looks like a million bucks,” were Chilly’s exact words.  Let’s hope he also looks like about 8 sacks. By the way, today is Chilly’s 52nd birthday.  I’m sure he’s having a high old boring time.

Former hard-hitting safety Robert Griffith signed a contract with the Vikings Wednesday so he could retire as a member of the Purple. Griffith earned a special spot in the hearts of Vikings fans by being just about the only decent player on some of Dennis Green‘s horrible defenses.  I once heard John Madden say during a game, “If Robert Griffith doesn’t make the play for the Vikings, it doesn’t get made.”  That about summed it up.

Daunte Culpepper has confirmed reports that he turned down a 1-year, $1 million offer to back up Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. “It just wasn’t good for either side,” Daunte explained, adding, “I’m just waiting for the right situation for me. I’m in talks with a couple of different teams right now.” Daunte insists that he wants to be a starter.  So what he’s saying is that there are a couple of different teams willing to at least give him a shot at being the #1 quarterback.  And these are Arena League teams? Daunte’s problem of course is that he’s [...]

Much has been said and written about SI’s Dr. Z picking the Vikings to win the Super Bowl.  I personally don’t get the fuss over it though.  I mean, the guy goes around calling himself “Dr. Z” – how seriously should I really take him? I guess we should be stoked that anyone considers our team worthy of even being thrown into the discussion.  That means they should at least be pretty good.  Then again, Dr. Z did pick the Saints last year…and look what happened to them. Of course this raises the inevitable jinx issue.  But come on…does anyone [...]

There’s one thing Brad Childress wants Tarvaris Jackson to get better at in 2008:  Quitting. “I want Tarvaris to make a big jump this year and I think he can,” Chilly said. “He needs to take care of the football, learn how to throw the ball away and play for another down. It’s an art.” Here’s what the Vikings should do:  Hand out big “Throw it Here Tarvaris!” signs to all the fans in the first five rows.  Then when T-Jack realizes all our second-rate receivers are covered, he’ll know not to try some wacky Roger Staubach jump-throw. It might [...]

Jevon Kearse, who’s set to begin his second go-around with the Titans this season, was arrested today for DUI in Nashville.  From titansradio.com: The officer who pulled the Titan over said Kearse exhibited slurred speech, red eyes, and smelled of alcohol. He reportedly refused a breath test. Officials said the incident was Kearse’s first offense. Kearse ranked high on many Vikings fans’ wish-lists this off-season after it became apparent he would not be retained by the Eagles.  In the end, the Vikes took a pass on the former Pro-Bowl defensive end…then wowed the football world by trading for 2007 sack [...]

Cleaning up some business from the past week… Kenechi Udeze, who has been stricken with leukemia, announced on KFAN host Dan Barreiro’s show Friday that he will have a bone marrow transplant early next month. Udeze will receive the donor marrow from his older brother Thomas Barnes who is a 100% match.  Obviously, we wish Kenechi well.  But from a heartless pragmatic strictly-business point-of-view? Udeze’s loss became irrelevant when we traded for Jared Allen. On the legal front:  Bryant McKinnie learned Friday that his criminal case will be continued. McKinnie’s lawyers have been trying to get the assault charges dismissed [...]